Compostable Organic Bags 100% Biodegradeable

The Problem

The United Nations has declared a war on plastic garbage in our oceans having found on average there are 13000 pieces of plastic per square kilometer of ocean on Earth. The problem of plastic pollution is of global proportions impacting on aquatic life and our own well being. Every year, 8 million tonnes of plastic enter our oceans. In the seas and waterways of Europe 2 billion microplastic fibres from laundry wastewater enter every second.

Plastic garbage from our coastlines enters into ocean currents associated with wind movements called Gyres. There are five major gyres in the world’s oceans. The largest gyre on earth, the North Pacific Gyre, has produced what has been termed the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”. Plastic pollution in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”p covers an area of ocean one third the size of Queensland, is 6 metres deep and weighs approximately 3.5 million tonnes.

Plastic garbage breaks down into microplastics that degrade slowly over centuries to thousands of years. Microplastics are defined as plastic materials < 5mm in size right down to nanometer size particles that can enter cells. Multiple small microplastic particles can fit inside a single celled organism. These particles are ubiquitous in our oceans and increasing annually. Many aquatic animals such as sea turtles, sea birds, whales and fish consume microplastics by accident or mistaking them for food. Microplastics entering algae block the light algae need to produce food and can sink to the ocean floor entering the deep oceans ecosystems. Microplastics accumulate in the stomachs and guts of aquatic animals causing blockages and limiting the amount of organic food these creatures can digest. Greater than 90% of sea birds worldwide have pieces of plastic in their stomachs. Microplastics are a threat to the extinction of Flatback Sea turtles on the Great Barrier Reef.

Microplastics also contain chemical toxins such as Bisphenol A (BPA), phlthates and polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) poisonous to some animals ingesting them.

Exposure to these chemicals can contribute to some cancers, infertility, immune, metabolic and cognitive disorders in humans.

The Solution

ECO2H2O 100% biodegradable bags. These bags are produced using < 65% of the energy used to manufacture plastic bags. They are made from corn starch which is converted to dextrose and then a lactic acid polymer that breaks down slowly to carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) and can be used as fertilizer in the soil. The corn starch molecules gradually absorb water, swell up and breakdown into small organic fragments that bacteria and other organisms can easily digest.

ECO2H2O bags have been created by a locally owned Cairns company, committed to saving the Flatback Sea turtles and other marine life on the Great Barrier Reef and other aquatic ecosystems globally.